Some bosses seem to think they are the center of the universe. They can be extremely difficult people to work with or for, but before you run screaming from the office, consider these four ways to cope.

With the welcome approach of summer and warm weather, many of us excitedly stash our wool sweaters and winter clothing away and stock our closets with lightweight attire. As much as we want to be comfortable at the office, tank tops and flip-flops are career-limiting moves. Follow these four rules to be taken seriously -- without spending breaking the summer dress code.

Resilience is the ability to bounce back after traumatic experiences. It is also the ability to thrive under pressure and in stressful situations. Increase your resilience, and you'll be able to achieve more and enjoy career success.

Life and work would be so much simpler if everything was in black or white. Unfortunately, we deal predominantly in shades of gray. So how do you handle work situations with a boss who tests your limits and breaches your belief system? If only choosing your own boss was an option!

In an ideal world, we'd never have to worry about fallout from a colleague's ambition, control issues, or fear. In the real one, we're forced to deal with this stuff all the time, by the very nature of collaborative work and corporate hierarchy. So how do you deal with office politics, without losing sight of your own goals or forfeiting your happiness at work?

When we're choosing a career, we generally think about the skills we'd need, the responsibilities we'd have, and the salary we'd earn. Psychology Today reminds us to consider details relevant to our personal style. Different people have different personal needs that matter at work, and to succeed, one must feel content. What is your recipe for career contentment?

We know that walking improves your circulatory health and can help you lose weight. It also seems boosts your creative thinking and productivity during the work day. But is working all day on a treadmill desk the answer to improving our job performance?

Do you like clear expectations and a known chain of command, or do you prefer a more free environment at work? While hierarchy can seem to stifle creativity, we cannot simply throw all order out the window. At the same time, we don't want to miss out on the creativity of workers. Ideally, there's a way to benefit from both.

Rarely, if ever, does any manager or employee speak of their fondness for the annual performance review, that ritual outlining of personal mistakes, successes, strengths, and weaknesses. So, if everyone hates them so much, why are are we doing them? That's the question Adobe asked before deciding to eliminate the process in 2012, and the company hasn't looked back since. Here's why.

These days, you might do business with a co-worker for years and never meet them face to face. Maybe they're in an office across the country or the world, or maybe they -- or you -- work at home. Whatever the reason behind it, working in a different physical space than your colleagues requires adaptations that you might never have anticipated, when you first started interacting remotely. For example, what happens when you need to negotiate with someone, and you can't see their facial expressions?

Resilience is a person's ability to adapt. Resilience is not just about "bouncing back" from trauma and tragedy, but also from difficult experiences at work or financial stressors. And those who are able to bounce back after stress-producing life events, large and small, are much more likely to succeed.

Are you using your own smartphone at work? If so, you're not alone -- by 2017, Gartner predicts that half of employers will require employees to supply their own device for work purposes. But what happens when you quit or get fired? If you're using your own device for work, you'll undoubtedly have months, if not years, of personal information on that phone -- including photos of loved ones, texts between friends, and other (very) personal information. You could lose all of that, along with access to your corporate accounts.

There's a whole wide world out there beyond your office window, even if it doesn't feel like it when project deadlines loom. The good news is that there are a lot of tiny, simple changes you can make, to make the earth a better place -- even if you're celebrating this Earth Day in your cubicle.

Everyone's been in a meeting with that person. A colleague is presenting on a topic, and while it might be boring, most everyone else is doing their best to be respectful and pay attention. However, there may be one person who keeps checking their phone, heads down sending messages, emails, or maybe even playing a game. It's annoying, it's distracting -- and it's rude.

Lack of good communication results in misunderstandings, differing expectations, and anxiety. If you reduce ambiguity in your communications, you reduce conflict and increase productivity. Yes, it really is that simple. Here's how.

Human resources gets a lot of flak from other departments in the company. Much of the good they do (administering benefits, for example) is invisible, while their less enjoyable duties (handing out pink slips) are right out in the open for all to see. Recently, a few companies have done away with HR altogether, replacing some functions with software that automates payroll and benefits, etc. But are workers really better off without an HR department?

Brendan Eich lasted two weeks as CEO of Mozilla before pressure from employees led to his resignation. The reason for that pressure? Eich's $1,000 donation to California's Proposition 8, a 2008 ballot initiative that banned gay marriage in the state.

Ever worked in an office in which you're always sitting at your desk layered in sweaters, even when the temperature outside is a balmy 72 degrees, because the air conditioning is set so low it feels like winter? If so, you're not alone. In fact, this problem is so prevalent in offices that a team of MIT students have developed a new wearable called Wristify, designed to make you feel warmer or cooler in your own environment by exploiting two basic properties of human temperature perception.

April Fools' Day has been with us since long before Jim Halpert first suspended Dwight Schrute's stapler in Jello (or, if you're a fan of the original, Tim Canterbury suspended Gareth Keenan's stapler in jelly). And while the best April Fools' Day pranks help everyone blow off steam and regain access to their office equipment in record time, the worst waste time, money, and patience in an environment where all three are in short supply. In short: to prank or not to prank?